Video Adverts for Facebook, Youtube, Instagram

piehole-tv. October 16, 2017

Video Adverts for Facebook, Youtube, Instagram

So you want to make an advert for your product or service but you need a few ideas. In this article we’ll show a few examples and give some tips so you can nail your production and get more bang for your buck.

Creative Formats

The creative options are endless when making video adverts. Broadly speaking you can use filmed footage or animation, which may for example be combined with photography or even 3D models. The most important element is the scripting, but we’ll get into that later. Here are a few ideas.

Animation:

Animation has the advantage that it’s more affordable than live action and it’s great for explaining conceptual or complicated ideas quickly. Here below are a few ideas.

This example below was created in 3D.

It’s also possible to create a style using your photography. That could be useful if you have a physical product, or if you just think it matches your brand styling better. This video below is one ad in a series of adverts we made for Youtube.

This example using a motion graphic style.

Live Action:

Filming can get expensive but there are ways to reduce cost such as simplifying a shoot or avoiding filming altogether by using stock footage. Here’s an example of a Facebook advert we made.

Mobile-friendly Adverts

If your adverts are for mobile view then it’s helpful to create it in portrait view (see below). From a production standpoint the artwork needs to be re-worked to fit in this format so make sure that you inform your video creator beforehand.

Scripting for Video Adverts

It may sound obvious but it’s extremely important to nail down exactly who your audience for the video is and what you want the video to achieve, e.g. to tell them about the brand, or to get a click? You need this info down to very specific details. This will impact your messaging a lot, e.g. if the viewer already knows who you are such as in the case of re-targeting campaigns then your approach will be a lot different. Whatever the case, you don’t have much time to keep the client’s attention so you need to get straight in there and give them a relevant or interesting message straight away. In the case of Instragram adverts, where the user scrolls down a feed, you need to be quick and get attention within the first second even.

How much does a video advert cost to make?

The costs can vary a lot depending on what you’re making and who’s making it for you. If you go out and get quotes you’ll see values ranging from $1k – $15k for animation and $10k – $100k for live action. If you look at that a bit closer you’ll find that a professionally-executed piece will cost you from $3k upwards for animation and $15k upwards for live action.

But here’s a hot tip….

You can make big savings if you create your advert(s) as part of a bigger production such as a company overview video. You’ll also save if you create more adverts. The reason is because you’ll be re-using existing styling/assets and your creator can also negotiate discounts on other factors such as voiceover and sound design. Making several video adverts is often a good idea anyway. Experienced marketers like to test different combinations of adverts and audiences, especially when it comes to Facebook ads.

Here are the cost factors involved in making an advert:

scripting

animation and editing

filming/stock-footage

voiceover

sound design

Making a slick-looking ad takes more time than you might think and so you should be prepared to pay more for a better advert.

Finally…

Making video adverts for Facebook, Youtube etc can be an awesome way to promote your brand. If you’re smart about production you can get a better creative result for your spend. We hope this article has provided a few ideas.